


the untouchables.

by taemints



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Activism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Byun Baekhyun & Park Chanyeol are Best Friends, Byun Baekhyun is a Little Shit, Byun Baekhyun-centric, Discrimination, Explicit Language, M/M, Minor Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Oh Sehun is a Brat, One-Sided Attraction, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Third Person Limited, Slow Burn, Social Issues, Social Justice
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-22 11:29:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13763187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taemints/pseuds/taemints
Summary: byun baekhyun was born with a head full of white hair and a stigma attached to it. like his mother and father, baekhyun is an untouchable. unlike his mother and father, though, baekhyun is revolted by the concept of an untouchable. strengthened by this revulsion, baekhyun resolves to work so hard and be so accomplished that nobody could ignore him.oh sehun is the son of a ruthless politician who has urged legislation inhibiting untouchables at all aspects of life. from the time he was born, sehun had been taught that untouchables were beneath him. sehun had been taught that since the beginning of time, untouchables were made to be slaves to normal men, and that their white hair was a symbol of their inferiority. untouchables, according to sehun's understanding, were to be seen and not heard.then how come sehun could hear byun baekhyun so well?





	1. prison song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byun Baekhyun reminisces on a childhood cursed by the white hair on his head before being thrust into a situation he had never imagined: an academic collaboration with the son of a politician bent on making his life hell.

Ever since Byun Baekhyun was a child, he had been told to cover his head.

Baekhyun was a perfect child. Or, rather, he was damn well near the perfect child. He loved his mother and his father dearly, and was an angel around his family. He loved to eat the homemade muffins his mother would pull out of the oven, and he could watch his father play the piano for hours. He enjoyed playing with toy cars, and he was never seen in bed without a comfortable pair of superhero pajamas and a stuffed animal from his extensive collection. If there was a flaw to Baekhyun, it would probably be that he sang, and sang loudly.

Well, there was one other flaw.

Baekhyun was born with a cross already on his back as soon as he came out of the womb. When he was born, the doctor looked revolted, and the midwife to his mother cried. As soon as he had opened his eyes, Baekhyun was a tragic child. There was nothing physically wrong with him, no. He passed every test for newborns with flying colors. His sight, responses, and hearing were just what you would expect of a normal, newborn child. Byun Baekhyun could've been a normal, newborn child. The only thing in his way was the white head of hair that sat on his head as soon as he was brought into the world. That head of white hair was his cross. That head of white hair meant he was an Untouchable, just as his father and mother were. 

Baekhyun was born into a world of prejudice and hatred. Whenever Baekhyun's mother and father switched the channel on their television from Baekhyun's cartoons to the news outlet, Baekhyun would always pick out certain words. They were always the same words: "Untouchables", "riots", "deaths". Baekhyun would watch with wide eyes footage of people screaming, of sirens howling, and of police officers beating and pushing protesters.

" Mommy, " Baekhyun remembered asking one day.

" Yes, honey? " his mother responded.

" Will that happen to me too? " Baekhyun asked as he pointed his finger to the television.

Baekhyun remembered his mother's face going pale, and his father immediately proposing a bubble bath to distract him. He remembered asking his father again as he sat in a warm bathtub filled to the brim with scented clouds of goodness floating around him as his father scrubbed his head. Baekhyun couldn't remember exactly what his father said, but he knew it was something along the lines of, "No, Baekhyun, that won't happen to you. Just wear the nice hat that Mommy bought you, and you'll be fine ". 

Oh, how Baekhyun wished it were true.

* * *

Baekhyun groaned as his alarm rang raucously. The luminosity of the sunrise pierced his closed blinds and painted themselves in glowing lines across his bed as his alarm blared throughout his room. Baekhyun knew both parents were off to work already. He groaned and rolled over in his bed. He landed on his back and stared up at the ceiling. Another day in hell (AKA his high school, if it wasn't completely obvious) was awaiting him. Baekhyun let out a sigh as he squeezed his eyes shut. Maybe if he tried hard enough, he could close his eyes and drift off into his dream world again-

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Baekhyun forced his eyes to open once again and for his body to wake. He turned his head to glare at his phone. He forced his arm to move and turn it off before flopping his arm back by his side once again.

" Killjoy, " Baekhyun muttered as he reluctantly pulled his blanket off.

Baekhyun soon found it fortunate that he woke up when he did, because just as he was brushing his white locks after his morning shower, his phone buzzed. He looked over to it in curiosity as he set his comb down. He picked it up and read the notification on his phone, and he smiled softly.

`pawk chanyeow (7:03 AM): your parents told me to pick you up for school. said something about not wanting you to have to take the bus to school from now on, since i can legally drive you. you gonna be ready in ten minutes?`

Baekhyun opened his phone and eagerly texted back.

`baekhyunnie (7:04 AM): more like 15, so get breakfast please `

He set his phone down and rolled his shoulders as he looked at himself in the mirror. Any pleasure he had derived from the thought of riding to school with his best friend has vanished as he remembered his white locks. He silently grumbled as he reached for a hair dryer. He turned on the mechanical dragon of hot air and tossed his hair around in it once or twice. After a disturbingly brief moment, he turned it off and set it on the counter before reaching for his hat. When you're an Untouchable, Baekhyun thought, you spend more money on hats than food. Baekhyun was pulled from his thoughts by another buzz. 

`pawk chanyeow (7:07 AM): ihy butt bacon >:(`

`baekhyunnie (7:08 AM): you know my order<33 love you`

* * *

While the muffin from the local vegan bakery made it a lot more tolerable, Baekhyun still hated his AP Human History class. 

Baekhyun sat in the back of the classroom, in the corner, with his hat on in solitary shame. Of course he had to be placed with all of the normies (that name wasn't quite as dramatic as 'Untouchables', but Chanyeol had convinced him that it would work) instead of with his friends in the class after this. Baekhyun leaned forward as he took notes, switching from pen to pen as he scribbled down something that he definitely would not understand later, but comprehended in the moment.

" So, " the teacher said as she clapped her hands together. If there was one thing that made this class more tolerable, it was his teacher. She was an Untouchable also, but she owned it, and that made the entire class just a little bit better. She was a stellar woman, a stellar teacher, and one of Baekhyun's only role models. " For this unit, we're going to have a big, big, _big_ project instead of a test! "

There were murmurs around the classroom, and Baekhyun could already see the little cliques of partners forming within the room. He shuffled in his seat and pulled at his beanie. Of course nobody wanted to pair with the Untouchable? Even then, Baekhyun felt envious of the nerds. They were at the bottom of the food chain, but at least they had friends at the bottom of the food chain too! In this class, Baekhyun had nobody. In this entire school, even, Baekhyun sometimes felt that he had nobody at the bottom of the bucket with him.

" Hold on, " the teacher spoke. Baekhyun looked at her in curiosity. " I will say something. I am choosing partners. "

Baekhyun groaned as he sunk further in his chair. He was almost going to ask if he could work alone, that he performed far better without someone slowing him down or distracting him. That didn't seem to be an option, though. If she was choosing partners, of course he couldn't be working alone!

" I have already picked out your partners for you, so when you hear you and your partner's name, make eye contact and smile! " 

Make eye contact and smile, Baekhyun thought bitterly. As if.

" Alright, so! Sehun...ah! You're with Baekhyun, " the teacher announced.

Baekhyun's blood ran cold as he hesitantly made eye contact with Oh Sehun across the room. Baekhyun felt his throat close up, and his mouth go dry. Oh Sehun was everything he wasn't! Baekhyun knew Sehun as the devilish playboy who never seemed to get caught; Baekhyun knew Sehun as the poster child for student involvement, with Sehun's name on soccer jerseys and such.

Byun Baekhyun also knew Oh Sehun as the son of a politician who had pushed every oppressive legislation against Untouchables to its final stages.

Baekhyun gulped as Sehun looked back at him, but he immediately steeled his nerves and got on the defensive as Sehun smiled at him. Sehun? Smiling at him? It must be fake, Baekhyun thought as he fidgeted with his hoodie. There was no way Sehun could be smiling at an _Untouchable._ But, still, if that was so, Baekhyun realized, then why did Sehun have a twinge, a flicker of disappointment and awkwardness in his eyes when the smile was not reciprocated? Baekhyun gazed at Sehun in confusion as he tuned the rest of the class out. It was strange to him. Why would a normie show courtesy so generous (ie., the smile) to an Untouchable? He was everything Sehun was supposed to have an unbridled and public disdain for. It was written on the very strands of his white hair.

Before Baekhyun knew it, the bell rang, and Sehun got up and left before Baekhyun could say anything.


	2. pray for me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh Sehun, son of an anti-Untouchable government official, and Byun Baekhyun, an Untouchable, attempt to collaborate despite their differences. However, their first real conversation has unforeseen side effects: Sehun starts to fall in love, and Baekhyun starts to question authority.

" And that's how I got paired up with his royal pain in the ass, Oh Sehun. "

Baekhyun groaned as he slammed his head against the lunch table, located in the corner of the outdoor picnic area, where nobody, normie or otherwise, would bother himself and his friends. In front of him sat Park Chanyeol, with his white locks tousled and tossed in a messy but stylish "I-may-or-may-not-have-just-rolled-out-of-bed" fashion. A regular at their table, Kim Jongin, had gone home early after being diagnosed with a fever. Chanyeol and Jongin were Baekhyun's best friends and confidants. Both Untouchables, Baekhyun felt he could trust the two men with anything. 

" How the hell, " Baekhyun started, " am I supposed to get along with this guy? I mean, his entire family already hates my guts. Don't think we'll be doing our project over at his place any time soon. "

Baekhyun melodramatically threw his head down onto the table once again. Having to work with somebody in that class was bad enough, but having to work with somebody with a background like Sehun? He could only imagine what kind of nasty things Sehun was calling him right now. If he was complaining about Sehun as badly as he imagined he was, he could only barely fathom the profanities Sehun was saying about him-

" Baekhyun. "

Baekhyun turned around, and his blood ran cold. His heart nearly dropped as he made eye contact with obsidian black eyes, framed by a pair of strong eyebrows seated on a very distinguishable face. Black hair framed the other male's face, and it wouldn't be abstract to assume that the other was standoffish, aloof, and indifferent towards others. Baekhyun felt physically cold as he locked gazes with the other. Oh Sehun stood in front of him, looking down on him.

At that same time, though, Baekhyun noticed something. Sehun wasn't glaring at him. In face, the other man was very relaxed. His hands were in his pockets, and he was rocking back and forth slightly (Baekhyun assumed it was force of habit, and not something ulterior). There was no scowl on Sehun's face, nor jutted chest in effort to intimidate and instill fear. Sehun looked, for a lack of better terms, completely and utterly normal. Sehun looked not like a normie looking down on an Untouchable, but, rather, a man looking at another man. 

" Baekhyun, can we talk? " Sehun asked. Baekhyun noted the complete calm in Sehun's tone. It was neutral, with its cadence one of normal-paced respect rather than the condescending and patronizing slowness that others had towards Untouchables. Baekhyun was taken aback, to say the least. Aghast was a sore understatement.

Baekhyun looked to Chanyeol, who had also immediately tensed up upon Sehun's arrival. He exchanged an uneasy glance with Chanyeol before looking back to Sehun.

" Sure, I guess, " Baekhyun mumbled.

Baekhyun stood, and he immediately noticed how much shorter he was compared to Sehun. Baekhyun stood only Sehun's shoulder, and he could bite his shoulder if he really tried (it wasn't like he was planning to anyways). Sehun motioned him to follow, and so the two men left the table.

* * *

Sehun stopped them in one of the empty hallways within one of the classroom wings. Baekhyun immediately felt uneasy, refraining from eye contact and making sure that his hands were visible and empty at all times. His mouth and throat felt dry, and he suddenly felt a black hole getting only deeper and deeper within his abdomen. A sense of fear gnawed at his head, and his heart had suddenly started to run a marathon. Baekhyun's ears rang in anxiety in the silence that fell between him and Sehun as they stood in the hallway. It was Sehun who spoke first.

" Look, " Sehun started. " I...I don't want our backgrounds to get involved in this, okay? "

" Is that it? " Baekhyun asked a bit too eagerly. " I don't want to spend any more time in here if I can help it. "

Sehun sighed, and Baekhyun felt his heart rate go up again. Had Sehun's patience already worn thin? Was he in trouble?

" Baekhyun, " Sehun replied calmly. " That's not it. I want to get to know you. I don't- "

" Why? " Baekhyun cut him off. He mustered the courage to turn away from staring at the wall and actually make eye contact with Oh Sehun. As soon as he did, he stood up a bit straighter. His heart went from a sprint to a brisk walk. The black hole in his stomach turned into a minor pothole. " Last time I checked, oil and water don't mix. "

Baekhyun noted the discomfort and surprise in Sehun's eyes, and, oddly enough, Baekhyun felt gratification from it. He suddenly felt like the more powerful person. He, an Untouchable, one who was hated and looked down upon because of his hair color, could make somebody as powerful as Oh Sehun humble. Baekhyun felt like he was heard for the first time in his life, and, heaven help and forgive him, it felt addicting.

" I... " Sehun's voice trailed off. Baekhyun stared at him, arms crossed in a tough attitude. It took Sehun a moment to speak again. " I know. We're not supposed to be getting along, but...I want to change that. "

" You? Changing this stigma? " Baekhyun scoffed. He turned to face Sehun fully. He made complete eye contact with him, and he could tell by Sehun's timid eyes that he had put on a pretty convincing scowl. " That's rich, coming from somebody like you. Who set you up to this? I know somebody like _you_ would rather see me dead than 'get to know me'. Like father like son, they said."

A tense silence fell over them, and Sehun broke eye contact first. Baekhyun watched him as the taller man shuffled awkwardly. He probably isn't used to this, Baekhyun thought. He's probably used to being able to get whoever he wanted; he probably expected me to bend the knee. 

Baekhyun paused a bit. So many times, he had bent the knee. Too many times, he thought, has obedience been granted. And to whom? The only difference between himself and Sehun was the color of their hair. The only difference between an Untouchable and a normie was the color of their hair. Why was it an accepted practice, Baekhyun wondered, to marginalize others based on the color of their hair? Baekhyun was reminded of the white locks that sat on his head. Who had told him to be ashamed of it? His parents. Who had told them to be ashamed? Their parents. Who, then, started it? Was it a spontaneous thing, that Untouchables suddenly decided to relegate themselves on the social ladder? Or, rather, was it an institution created by those with color in their hair in an effort to exalt themselves, to exert power and take advantage of the precious labor and talents of his ancestors? Who allowed people like Sehun's father to be in power, to oppress those without pigmentation in their hair? Certainly not Untouchables. Why didn't Untouchables like him have a voice? No, Baekhyun rationalized. Baekhyun realized that questioning why things were they way they were was simply not good enough; asking the 'who's and the 'how come's was simply not enough. What, he then decided, was stopping Untouchables from taking back their lives? What was in the way of their true social freedom?

" For this project, " Baekhyun started again. " I'm not your servant. We're equal. We work together. Don't expect me to pick up the slack because of this. "

For emphasis (and, honestly, to rub in his newfound confidence), Baekhyun took off his beanie and ruffled his white head of hair right in Sehun's face. He watched Sehun gaze at him in shock.

" Now, if you'll excuse me. "

Baekhyun turned and walked down the other way to Chanyeol. He felt a surge of confidence settle permanently in his heart. A newfound spring was in his step. Even though he felt Sehun's eyes on his back, he continue to strut down the hallway. Hell, he felt too good not to.

* * *

The end bell was music to Baekhyun's ears. The towheaded teenager left his math classroom last first (he had never cared for math, anyway) and made a beeline to his locker. Just five more minutes, Baekhyun thought, and he would be free to head into Chanyeol's car, pick up some bubble tea, and head over to Chanyeol's place for "studying". He grinned to himself as he put more effort into his stroll to make it a brisk power walk. 

He arrived to his locker in minutes and energetically undid the lock. He swung his locker open, only to watch a piece of paper flutter down like a petal. Baekhyun's happiness was morphed into curiosity and confusion as he bent down and picked up the paper. He opened it and read the admittedly very pretty script.

" _Baekhyun-  
I'm sorry for being so patronizing today. What you did, honestly, scared me a bit. But I _

_understand now. What you did was very brave. I like that. I respect that. I really hope to_

_talk to you soon. Here's my phone number, should you ever decide to call._

_(xxx) xxx-xxxx_

_\- Oh Sehun_

_P.S.: Your shampoo smells very nice. I like it on you._ "

Baekhyun read the note once, twice, then three times. He thought that he had managed to scare Sehun off. He stared at the note, puzzled. Sehun genuinely wanted to listen to him, otherwise he would'nt have left the note. Baekhyun continued to read and reread the note, searching for anything that may imply sarcasm or contempt disguised as amity. He found nothing.

" Who are you, Oh Sehun...? " Baekhyun muttered as he read the note one last time.

Baekhyun got no answer, but instead an incoming phone call. He was yanked back into reality by the vibrations, and he immediately folded up the note and stuffed it in his back pocket. He fished his phone out of another pocket, and answered it. After a brief conversation regarding his whereabouts with Chanyeol, he hung up and exchanged what he needed within his locker. While his hands were moving, Baekhyun's mind was still frozen in shock from the unexpected note. Confused wasn't even the start of the story. Baekhyun sighed as he closed his locker. This, Baekhyun realized, was not your average normie. Oh Sehun was not normal. Oh Sehun was definitely not normal; Baekhyun would even dare to say that Sehun's complete respect for him was as weird as the lack of color in his hair.

That meant that they had more in common than Baekhyun would've liked to think.

**Author's Note:**

> the untouchables mixtape: https://open.spotify.com/user/l.xtto/playlist/4ss0cGa6lO4dl3ZQlEW9je
> 
> hi this is my first attempt at writing a not oneshot so please dont kill me thanks i love yall


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